Robinson captures top honors at Alma Open

That was the situation for the Alma College wrestling team and other collegiate programs Saturday at the Alma College Open.

The Scots were unable to wrestle seven athletes due to a flu bug that has hit the campus with an additional three wrestlers dropping out after winning matches due to illness as well.

“We wrestled well and we got a lot of wins today though,” said Alma College head coach Todd Hibbs. “We had some health issues this week and today, with guys out having the flu. The guys that were healthy though did a nice job and we’re looking forward to next weekend and then coming home to host the Olivet College dual and then to the Mid-States Tournament.”

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Despite having the flu bug throw a wrench into Saturday’s action for teams like Alma College and Grand Valley State University, which had only five of its 23 squad members appear due to illness, Hibbs and the Scots were able to add another winning chapter in one wrestler’s book.

Freshman heavyweight Adam Robinson came into Saturday’s Alma Open as one of the best stories this season for the Alma College program and he didn’t disappoint.

Robinson captured the heavyweight championship with a 5-2 win over Central Michigan University junior Mike Murray and collected two wins via pin fall.

“He’s a freshman who in high school had a lot of success as a two-sport standout,” Hibbs said. “He was a very successful football player but he devastated his knee twice with ACL injuries and decided to give up on football and try to keep his body healthy for wrestling.”

Robinson finished Saturday with a 4-0 mark, running his season record to 25-7. With those four wins on Saturday, Robinson has now captured 10 of his last 11 matches dating back to Dec. 16.

“He’s a good student as well with a 3.2 GPA as a freshman,” Hibbs added. “He’s a relentless worker. As heavyweight and as a heavyweight, he doesn’t mind the sprinting and the running and he does everything you ask him to do.”

The 25-7 record alone is an impressive statistic for a first-year competitor but Robinson has done much more than just win 25 matches.

“Adam has made an appearance in the championship match in each of the tournaments that we’ve taken him to,” Hibbs said.

In the four appearances, Robinson has come away now with three tournament titles. He opened the year by capturing the Muskegon Open before taking top honors in the Ohio Northern University Invitational amongst a 32-man field. Robinson’s runner-up finish came last week when the Scots came within one-half of a point of winning the Elmhurst Invitational against host and No. 2 ranked Elmhurst College (Ill.).

“Part of his strategy, and I’m not revealing anything because people know this, is that he might not score until the third period but he’s going to have more energy left because he wears his opponents down,” Hibbs said. “If it’s close in the third period, I usually feel good about it.”

The Scots also placed two other wrestlers in freshmen Trevor Maresh (197) and Shawn Brewer (157). Maresh ran his season record to 20-8 after collecting a 13-1 major decision win in the third-place match over Ohio Northern University’s Kody Bellamy. After an opening round bye, Maresh defeated Sean Slee of Heidelberg University 11-4 before falling to Andrew Lovins also of Heidelberg in a third-round match. Maresh would advance to the consolation championship with a forfeit win over fellow teammate Mason Ley.

“Trevor’s a training partner of Adams and it’s nice to have a 6-foot-4 inch freshman,” Hibbs said. “He’s another having success on the mat and with the books as well. He now has over 20 wins, so another guy having a good freshman year.”

Brewer opened the day with a 15-0 technical fall win over Heidelberg’s Nicholas Adelberger before dropping a 14-5 match to Indiana Tech’s Andrew Fahs, Brewer’s opponent in the consolation championship match and eventual champion. Brewer would rebound with wins over Garrett Edwards of Muskegon Community College and Ohio Northern’s Maxwell Brooke before succumbing to Fahs in the third place bout.

“Shawn had a good day and got back in there and placed,” Hibbs said. “He only lost to that kid from Indiana Tech and he’s another academic leader for us.”

Alma College will now prepare for next weekend’s Pete Wilson Invitational held at Wheaton College (Ill.). The two-day open tournament is one of the premier events in Division III wrestling and features 32 school’s, including some of the nations top-ranked programs.

“The Pete Wilson Invitational is one the biggest in the country,” Hibbs said. “All of our wrestlers were eliminated after the first day last year, so we’re hoping to have some strong finishes this year.”

Joe Buczek is a sports writer and the Alma College beat writer at the Morning Sun. You can reach him at jbuczek@michigannewspapers.com